Welcome to the Cafe du Watchog, also called RPGen. We're a sandbox style Pokemon site with a focus on everyday life in the Pokemon world. Trainers, Pokemon, criminals, cosmic forces, and normal citizens are all welcome to join in the fun. Kick back and enjoy a cup of coffee with us!

Anyway, Gav was in Route 7. It was just another day of training, the average family time for Gavin and his team. Today was Princess Peach's trainday, though, and the two were outside Celestial Tower, beating up a menagarie of Normal types and the occasional Elgyem that wandered outside the Tower.

Speaking of Elgyem, Gray was also out, but he wasn't training. Rather, he was making attempts to communicate with the other Elgyems, but it was all to no real avail. Maybe it was the fact that he was hatched from an abandoned egg at the Daycare, maybe it was the fact that he was human-owned, but for whatever reason, the other ayys didn't seem to want to talk to him.

Hey buddy, guess what: Elgyem communicate by blinking. That's what Gray's been trying to do with all the Elgyems around the tower, just blink those little light bulb fingers in an attempt to make blinky-conversation. So as soon as little Gray noticed the blinking that seemed to be towards him, he got excited.

Even though blue wasn't an Elgyem color.

Well, whatever, it was something, and Gray was desperate. So the ayy, rather than his normal hesitance, seemed to eagerly float over towards the light.

Gav wasn't paying attention, as Peach was currently defending her honor against a Watchog.

Man, maybe in the future, Gray won't dawdle around the entrance of giant fuck-off burial towers filled skeletons, ghosts, the souls of the damned, and aliens. As the doors slammed behind him, Gray instantly looked worried, and he tried to....well, do anything to get those fuckin doors open. Zap 'em with mind rays, blink at them, really, anything.

Alas, though, he was in the dark, away from Gavin, in a dark and scary place.

Speaking of Gav, he did hear the slam. Instantly, his gaze shot towards the Tower, and then he began to look around. "Gray? Gray, where are you?"

No sounds. No lights. No ayys. "Gray! The Tower!" As Gav stared at the Tower, he took a step back and yoinked Peach off the ground, then bounded towards the Tower. "I'm coming!"

Alas, the doors to the tower weren't opening for any mind rays or blinks today. They remain firm, unbudging in the face of the desperate little alien. But don't fret, Gray! You're never alone in places like this. As Gray fought with the door, the same blue flame from before relit in the dark, followed by the glow of a piercing yellow eye beneath. A second set of lights appeared next to the first, and then another pair, and before long the entirety of the room was nothing but swirling colors.

That might have been okay. But then they started giggling.

High-pitched, childish giggling. The worst kind of giggle. Suddenly, the faces swarm Gray, scooping the little thing into the air and down the stairs.

Now, see, even though Gavin ran a pretty intensive training program, he always made accommodations for his teammates. And even though Gray was no slouch, he was always a shyboy, and while Gav helped him stay laser focused while in battle, outside of battle, the small ayy was still skittish and timid as fuck.

This is to say, holy shit. Is this hell? This feels like hell. Gray fretted and panicked, albeit quietly. As he was ferried and moshed into what looked like a lower level (definitely hell), he waved his arms, finger-orbs blinking rapidly, in a way that really did help relay how fuckin freaked the fucked out he was.

Meanwhile, outside, Gavin banged on the doors as Peach looked onwards, worried. Once it definitely, absolutely, totally looked like the door wasn't about to open up, Gavin wasted no time pulling out a pokeball as he looked upwards. There was a window above the doorway.

It sure felt like hell. As the creatures of darkness spirited Gray down the stairs, they began to increase in speed, passing what seemed to be floors in a rapid order. What's worse, each floor they passed by was filled with nothing but more glowing lights, dozens upon dozens, and the increase in speed just turned them into blue and yellow blurs.

Have you ever been down a dark waterslide with LED tubing inside it? Imagine that, except you're being pulled down by unseen forces and you're pretty sure that what's at the bottom isn't going to be a pool of water. Maybe a pool of blood, or a pile of bones, or something equally as spooky. Either way, it seems like they aren't stopping any time soon.

From the window above the doorway, one yellow eye peers down at Gavin, blinking once before turning away quickly. Something's watching him.

BOY HOWDY, Gray's gonna have the shakes for quite some time after this. A thought seemed to manifest in his head: hey, actually fuck this. He didn't need to talk to any fucking Elgyems. It was unnecessary! All of this was unnecessary!

Meanwhile, if Gav knew he was being watched, he'd be glad he was. Nothing like letting your opponents know that an unstoppable force was about to come kick them in the fucking head. As Gavin returned Peach, he replaced her with his Gligar, Rand.

The grumpy boy took one look at Gav and rolled his eyes. "You're in one'a those moods, ain't ya, boy?"

Gavin simply pointed at the window. "Shut up and help me up." There was a bit of malice in his voice, which was kinda...strange, considering his normal tone.

That seemed to surprise Rand, who swooped up and then back down, attempting to grab Gavin from under the shoulders and propel him upwards. "Yea, well, if y'need someone to neck someone, y'know who ya 'gar is."

The endless hallway of hell, or "hellway" as I've cleverly named it, kept going on. Gray was gonna ride this train until it was good and damn ready to stop, baby.

Meanwhile, as Gav had made his ascent, the eye from before had returned to the window, accompanied by another, more sarcastic-looking light. How could you tell it was sarcastic? Who knows? Once they reach the window, both turn and look down, staring at Gav's head for a few seconds before panicking and flying off.

Guess they didn't expect him to scale the fucking building. They weren't prepared for the FURY, nor the THUNDER.

...not to downplay how much Gray was not pleased with this current sequence of events, but he was starting to get exhausted. Really. Being scared for a few seconds was already a tiring thing, but having it be prolonged was starting to eat away at his energy levels. If you fall into an infinitely deep pit, you're eventually gonna get tired of it.

Yes, Gavin was basically straight into KILL mode. Don't fuck with his team, buddies. As he got his foot over the opening, he hoisted himself into the Tower's second floor and returned Rand.

The panicking ghosts was an interesting point, and might be relevant later, Gavin thought, but he was currently looking for his ebabey. Once he was standing tall (and away from the window, on firm floor), he called out, "Gray! Where are you?"

Down and down and down, this "hellavator" (I did it again!) seemed like it might go on forever.

That is, until it immediately stops. There's no ding, but it's not hard to discern that they'd reached the desired floor. The staircase opens up into a large room, lit with glowing blue flames that seem to dance and weave through the air with no real pattern. Now that the first have increased, it's easy to tell what they are: Litwick and Lanturne. The group carrying Gray unceremoniously throws the little dude forward, retracting back into the staircase before another large door seals off the room.

All eyes turn to the Elgyem. As the other Pokemon stare, they also advance, moving in on the abandoned alien.

Back upstairs, the two Litwick float above Gav's head, slowly inching their way towards the stairs leading down.

"You better not stay here, human! You gotta get outta here!" The wider-eyed of the two speaks first, shaking in the air as it berates poor Gav.

"Yeah, you should leave, like right now! You're gonna get haunted! Oooooooo!" The other one with the sarcastic look shakes it's tiny arms in a menacing fashion.

The abrupt stop jolted Gray out of the semi-trance he had begun to fall into, and he was just sorta tossed onto the cold floor like a sack of potatoes. Man, if he wasn't so fuckin terrified, he'd be kinda irritated by that shit.

However, as soon as ickle alien sat back up and got a gooooood look at the horrible clown entourage closing in on him, he began to shudder slightly, grasping the sides of his head and looking down while his fingers blinked out the Elgyem equivalent of S-O-S.

Man, this sucks.

Meanwhile, Gav wasn't as terrified. Rather, he payed little mind to the ghosts floating around him, only responded with an idle wave of the hand around his head. Like he was trying to ward off flies. "Gray! Gray, where are you? Shine, use Psychic, anything! I'm here, you don't have to worry! Graaaay!"

The blinking doesn't do much besides light up some of the ghosts' faces, possibly making their grins even more terrifying. They get closer and closer, encircling Gray as they begin to giggle, high pitched child-like sounds. Behind the group, two larger fires flicker to life. They move slowly through the crowd, straight for the Elgyem.

Insert the Jaws theme here.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE HALL OF JUSTICE

The two Litwick continue to circle around Gav, shouting protests as he searches.

"He can't hear you, mister! He's in the dark place now!""Yeah, the dark place!""He's gonna be evaluated!""Yeah, evaluated!""You'll never find out where he went, no humans allowed!""Yeah, don't look under the stairs!""You idiot, now he's gonna look under the stairs!""Yeah, you idiot!""I'm talking to you!"

Man, it sure sucks being in this situation. It really, really, really didn't look like a good time. However, now that the initial shock was starting to wear off, Gray, who was still terrified mind you, decided that he could, like, at least do something.

The Elgyem held up a single hand, and his fingers began to glow as a twinkly star-like aura began to surround the ayy. Hey, Cosmic Power boosts defenses, and he might need them.

Upwards, Gavin was previously ignoring the Litwick. However, his demeanor changed pretty damn quickly once they let him know that they were involved with Gray's disappearance. For a second, he stopped, and he quickly turned to face the two.

Silently and sternly, he stared them down, before slowly raising a hand clutching two pokeballs. "Under the stairs. Good. I'll be back for you two later." That last bit was basically hissed at the Litwick.

After the warning, Gavin began to run down the stairs. It's time for a saving, god damn it.